Tag Archives: software tester

Always look on the bright side of life..

Posted by on January 8, 2010 1 comment

The Magician

And what better way, than to download the new Tester Types E-Book.

Its a light hearted look at some of the types of testers out there and I guess we could all do with a bit of a laugh now and then.

I big hearty thanks to Rob Lambert and Rosie Sherry for writing and putting this together.

So, why not download it, grab yourself a cuppa and enjoy a read.

Oh and Happy New Year to you all.

Holding the cat by the tail

Posted by on September 27, 2009 1 comment

I thought Jack Margo’s interview by UTest was very interesting. What caught my eye was the following statement:

The days of specialists are mostly killed from the recession…you have to be flexible and know multiple disciplines to exist in today’s dev environment.  In web development alone, you need to be proficient with XML, DHTML, JS, a DB flavor, an OS flavor, a programming language and some semblance of UI Design to even handle front-end.  I have friends who knew only HTML or only PERL.  They are struggling to say the least

It made me think  the same applies to us as software testers.

Have specialists in software testing being killed by the recession? Is it necessary for software testers to be ‘flexible’ and know ‘multiple disciplines’?

Personally, I think so. Its not good enough these days to be a ‘manual tester’ or an ‘automated tester’. Instead you need to be able to do both. I don’t think that means you have to be ‘expert’ on both, but it does mean you have to have knowledge of both and a good knowledge in one area.

That’s why I’m excited about Nathan Bain and the free automated testing sessions he’s starting up.  As he puts it:

Come to meet fellow testers, share stories and experiences about tools and techniques which may, or may not, have solved testing problems on other Agile projects.

This is also a place of learning, where live demonstrations of tools will be given for FREE – no more expensive training courses for simple (and free) open-source testing tools.

What a fantastic opportunity to learn about automated testing!

To complement this, Rob Lambert has setup some free Exploratory Testing Sessions.

Both organisers have mentioned that these sessions could also be performed online.

I am not going to miss out on either opportunities. I would encourage those interested to sign up to both, either to contribute so others can learn, or learn from someone else.

BTW: two quotes were in contest to head this post. The first one was by Mahatma Gandhi:

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

The other was:

“If you hold a cat by the tail you learn things you cannot learn any other way.”

Mark Twain

I love both for different reasons, but I thought the second one appealed to me as a tester, hence the title :)

Test Tools for Covert Operations

Posted by on September 24, 2009 3 comments

I have one of my clients to thank for this tip.

I was performing some software testing recently on a product that had both a software and hardware element to it. The unique setup of the laptop, and  peripheral equipment meant I that there was only one test environment available.  I was fortunate not to live to far away, but the developer lived in England and so would have to upload any fixes and new versions remotely.

The client insisted we use LogMeIn for the remote access.

Now, I like my software test environment to be stable at least for some fixed period. That way, I know that I’m not testing a moving target.

So when I heard that both the developer and I were to have remote access, I was a bit concerned as the developer  could upgrade software at any time without telling me.

Then I had a stroke of luck.

As any tester worth their salt would do, I immediately started checking out the LogMeIn software. I noticed that under Preferences, there was an Advanced Settings. So, I clicked on that.  To my delight, I found a ‘Screen Record’ option which allowed be to enable recording of anything that happens on the remote machine.

To a control freak like me, this was complete heaven. It was a way to not only know if an upgrade occurred, but also I could learn how the developer ‘tweeked’ the system.

I did at times feel like I was on some covert operation until I fessed up and told him I had it enabled.

Anyhow, if you ever in the same situation where perhaps your developer is not the most communicative, I heartily recommend you look at this free application.